The Path of Kane

A Ghost of a Town......

10

DEC/14

We depart the village feeling content having eliminated the fear that the goat men instilled among all the villagers. Boris offers the group detailed formation of these beasts. A sizeable mass of clay is transformed into a spirit from hell through a summoning ritual often using magical scripts. After the transformation these hellions walk the earth with a life force that encourages evil and twists good into wickedness.
In a most recent dream that Ju-Ju man keeps beckoning us to follow him to the east and we must now shift our focus to another direction. I do feel better that we have had another dream to help guide us because Boris has not given our cause any sincere assistance. He, in fact, has fought half heartedly in numerous battles. I have grown weary of my companion and his true intentions.
I tend the horses giving them oats and mine a special mix of barley and oats to keep her coat a brilliant black. I have always love animals, but do not readily share that fact with my acquaintances. I saddle up our steeds and we mount up to continue our journey into the mostly unknown. The mighty sun guides us to the east and we happen upon a village in the region of Bavaria not far from my hometown of Augsburg. We are perhaps 250 kilometers to the southeast at this point. Straight away Franz points out the empty wheat fields during a time when farmers should be tending their crops. Fernando gestures to a field to our immediate south that has a plow and oxen positioned ready to work the field. Just one big problem….the oxen appears long deceased! Moreover all the dwellings look to be abandoned!!!! They are in disrepair and some appear have damaged doors. We investigate a number of houses and discover some owners have left in a hurry where as others show signs of a struggle. We approach the village tavern showing signs of disrepair(because that is always the first thing Franz thinks about) and tether our steeds. I kiss my faithful steed on the nose as we turn to face the entrance. Cadamus and Franz immediately notice a figure dash past one of the upper floor windows. Franz soon discovers footprints of a recent resident within the building upon our entry. Boris then hears a creaking of floor boards in the ceiling above his head. We cautiously ascend the stairs to discover a middle aged man tinkering with a door knob from one of the guest rooms. He happily greets and welcomes us to the Inn of the White Stallion. He then tells us his name: Michael Droon. Michael begins to explain that everyone in town has been taken away by bandits. Not all of the villagers have been taken away but some have died of the plague. He has remained to maintain the inn as that is his duty as the inn keeper. We walk downstairs to have some grub and drinks; I give him a mark to pay for our drinks, food and lodging for the evening. This is his first business in months probably! Fernando has not been taking the inn keeper very seriously and I sense Michaels frustration. I think he is not convinced that we are all on board to the notion that people are missing and could be held prisoner or enslaved. Michael finally revealed the complete truth: there are goblins attacking the town from the depths of the underground. Fernando begins to explain that we are good at killing things although sometimes some innocent people get killed. I try to put Michael at ease and tell him the story about how I rescued a choir of people from some lethal iron maidens. Michael further explains that they enter the village from tunnels and the well that is in the center of town.
After much discussion we decide to repel down with Boris stealthily leading the way. Upon is descent hears many noises and asks us to come to his location. The Fernando marks our path so we do not get lost using marks at first, but I explain that he should use his shillings since they are nearly worthless in Bavaria. After only 15 minutes of probing we hear sounds than are getting closer, but from both sides of us! We ready ourselves for an onslaught with myself using my talent to boost the damage of Fernando and Franz’s weapons while Boris decides to use the shadow and my body to hide. These little devils are skilled fighters. Fernando absorbs a number of gouges from these hideous critters’ claws. I decide to use my talent to put 3 of them to sleep. As Fernando sees three fall asleep his bravery emerges and he yells, “What now bitches!” Franz drops another and the remaining flee the area. I realize that we have made more noise than a herd of alpine elk during mating season. We must assume the remaining foul creatures know of our presence.
We travel deeper into the network and enter a rather large and dank cavern. Unlike the rest of the tunnel network this appears natural with a wide variety of limestone and possibly gypsum stalagmites and stalactites with some as long as 6 or 7 feet. I am too busy admiring the natural geologic formations when Franz yells…“Ahhh!” He abruptly swings his sword at a goblin that seems to materialize out of nowhere. His hasty swing yields little result. The group now gets a better look around as I shine the lantern upon a large band of goblins! The melee begins and a rather large one swings a rusty long sword at Franz. The initial attacks leave the party badly wounded and Franz staggering because of multiple blows from the goblin leader and his henchemen. I boost damage on all the weapons in the hands of the remaining party. Franz manifests a talent that I was not familiar with that gave all of us a layer of misty armor. The goblins continue the assault using their razor sharp claws to inflict terrible wounds. At this point Franz has not been fairing so well against the goblin king and three of his minions. Under everyone’s nose, three of the goblins collapse next to Boris. I can only assume that Boris has other abilities that he has never shared with me. To keep the battle in our favor, I call upon the power of the all mighty to close the wounds of Kanes’ Crusaders. Meanwhile Boris shows his skill with a sword killing two that were fighting me. I parry a number of their deadly claws, making use of my extra large shield. I cease their attack upon me by causing the two remaining hellions engaged with me to fall into a deep slumber. Fernando finally eliminated the last two that he was occupied with. Boris moves over to a bloody Franz to assist in his plight. Without delay Boris thrusts his short sword into the leathery flesh of one these foul monsters allowing him to breath no more. Franz fends off another beast dropping him with a mighty cut to the head. Fernando sidesteps the final goblin’s attack and runs him through with a powerful laceration to the neck, drawing his blood forth and spilling it all over the cavern floor. The Crusaders are finally victorious after much blood was spattered about the damp and gloomy tunnels of the goblin lair. Once again we have triumphed over another worldly evil with the power invested in us by the Almighty.